I agree with Joe on the use of an external meter. I have a working Canon meter for the P (I think that they were made for the VI-L, too), and while my informal testing has shown it's accurate enough, it's kind of fiddly for my way of shooting. I use an external incident meter, Minolta's Autometer IVf, for all my unmetered cameras.
What I like about the Canon meter, though, will probably make me sound very GAS-sy; it's actually pleasing to have a pretty complete "kit" for my P, including the meter, leather case, etc. In that regard, it's actually nice to get the meter.
Based on what others have said, though, it would seem that a more modern accessory meter, like Voigtlander's VCII, would be a good compromise on a camera like the P. It's not coupled to the shutter dial, but it probably has an edge on sensitivity and responsiveness.
In my opinion, though, its only fault is that it doesn't do incident metering. Enjoy your P!
Cheers,
--joe.